The mayor is convening a special council meeting Monday night to hear the company's case for why it merits city financing. Renaissance wants to get the city's endorsement before June 10, its deadline to apply for $5 million in low-interest, long-term state financing.

The Long Island-based developer has faced increasingly stiff resistance from city officials, though, as new versions of its plan have grown smaller while shifting more of the financial risk to the city.

When the city gave Renaissance a contract in 2010 to be the chief coordinator of redeveloping the old Bristol Centre Mall property, the city was looking for the company to buy the 17 acres for $2.1 million. It expected Renaissance to line up a series of investors and developers to build Depot Square on the site, a project initially envisioned with 750 apartments for young professionals and empty-nester baby boomers, a 100-room business hotel, and rows of specialty shops and ethnic restaurants,

That plan included underground parking garages, rooftop gardens and a park-like plaza in the center of the property. At the time, company President Don Monti predicted to an audience of officials and taxpayers that downtown would become an urban centerpiece and a model for other communities.

The company said that a high-density, pedestrian-oriented complex of mid-rise apartments would generate the kind of foot traffic necessary to attract national retailers.

But private investors and other developers have shown little appetite for building downtown. Over the past five years, Renaissance and city leaders have repeatedly said they were hoping for a groundbreaking soon. Each time, though, the financing fell short. Renaissance has said the city's housing market simply can't sustain the kinds of rents that were initially planned.

Bristol has long since stopped talking about selling the land to recoup part of the $5.3 million it paid in 2005. Instead, officials have been negotiating with Renaissance about what additional public money, if any, would be available. Last year, Mayor Ken Cockayne indicated that the city would be willing to put $3 million into a network of roads, sidewalks and utilities along with a public piazza.

This spring, Renaissance asked for significantly more while downsizing the first phase of the project. This version calls for about 100 apartments and 16,000 square feet of retail space, all costing just under $24 million. Its proposal would rely on two 40-year state housing loans worth a total of $13.7 million. In addition, it would have the city make the $3 million in infrastructure improvements and provide another $3.9 million in loans to build the commercial section, while private investment would run another $3.1 million.

Just a week ago, the Bristol Downtown Development Corp., which oversees downtown redevelopment, unanimously rejected Renaissance's newest proposal, saying the company hadn't provided enough detail to justify endorsing it or lending millions of tax dollars for construction.

Renaissance's supporters maintain that no other developers want the project, and that Renaissance offers the best long-term hope for reclaiming the vacant site and restoring the mostly moribund downtown.

The council is set to meet at 6 p.m. June 1 at city hall. While the state loan applications don't requirement the municipality's endorsement, Renaissance has acknowledged that the bid's chances would suffer without it.